Action News reports on s staggering figure that has come to light pertaining to auto accidents in St. Augustine. Nearly 100 car crashes happened on five of St. Augustine’s major roads in 2013. According to residents, Ponce de Leon Boulevard and State Road 16 is one of those intersections to watch out for.
According to the St. Augustine Police Department, the city’s five major roadways account for a total of 90 car crashes in 2013. On King Street alone there were 24 crashes, followed by San Marco Avenue with 23, Anastasia Boulevard had 18 crashes, Ponce de Leon Boulevard had 14 and South Ponce de Leon Boulevard had 11. St. John’s County Sheriff’s Office finds that while there are many factors that go into the cause of car wrecks, they’re seeing a trend in distracted driving. Recently, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office launched the ‘If Only’ campaign. Its goal is to educate the community on the rules of the road for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists. The campaign is motivated by a half dozen fatalities of bicyclists and pedestrians in and around St. Augustine over the past year. The goal is to educate people on the laws of the road, specifically “elusive laws” people may not be aware of, like the 3-foot law that requires motorists to provide 3 feet of room between their car and a pedestrian, or that bicycles are considered vehicles in Florida.Click here to read more about the campaign

Motorists should take the following steps to avoid incidents:

A 3 foot distance is required when passing bicyclists.

Bicycles can legally operate on roadways as vehicles.

Distracted driving causes fatalities on our roads.

Always look right before making a right hand turn

Pedestrians should take the following steps to avoid traffic incidents:

Walk on sidewalks (It’s the law).

Walk in well-lit areas or carry a flashlight.

Wear light colored clothing.

Use crosswalks (It’s the law).

Walk against the flow of traffic (It’s the law).

Bicyclists should take the following steps to avoid traffic incidents: